I Still Love Robert Frost

God's Garden

God made a beauteous garden
With lovely flowers strown,
But one straight, narrow pathway
That was not overgrown.
And to this beauteous garden
He brought mankind to live,
And said: "To you, my children,
These lovely flowers I give.
Prune ye my vines and fig trees,
With care my flowerets tend,
But keep the pathway open
Your home is at the end."
Then came another master,
Who did not love mankind,
And planted on the pathway
Gold flowers for them to find.
And mankind saw the bright flowers,
That, glitt'ring in the sun,
Quite hid the thorns of av'rice
That poison blood and bone;
And far off many wandered,
And when life's night came on,
They still were seeking gold flowers,
Lost, helpless and alone.

O, cease to heed the glamour
That blinds your foolish eyes,
Look upward to the glitter
Of stars in God's clear skies.
Their ways are pure and harmless
And will not lead astray,
Bid aid your erring footsteps
To keep the narrow way.
And when the sun shines brightly
Tend flowers that God has given
And keep the pathway open
That leads you on to heaven.
~Robert Frost

Wynette

Gordon Smith wrote:

My sister Wynette came down with meningitis to go along with her lymphoma.  They called all of her children to come.  They felt like her children could not get there before she passed away in the hospital.  However,  the doctors said she is a miracle, and is going to recover.

We  are hoping for the best.

Gordon and Roberta

Myrna wrote:

Thanks for letting us know about her. That is a miracle! Neither of those diseases are easy to have and both together would be too much for most. She is a strong woman.

RE: I still like Robert Frost!‏

Lyla Spencer wrote: Thanks Myrna, I loved that and needed to be reminded.  It was wonderful to see you there tonight.  Have a wonderful week!! Will you??
Love, Lyla
 
EllaDean Hunter wrote: Yes,  I like also.

Maxine Gordon wrote: I love the poem.  Thanks Myrna.

Happy Easter from Auntie Eva

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

All I need to know

I learned from the Easter Bunny!

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

There's no such thing as too much candy.

All work and no play can make you a basket case.

A cute tail attracts a lot of attention.

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

Keep your paws off of other people's jelly beans.

Good things come in small, sugar coated packages.

The grass is always greener in someone else's basket.

To show your true colors, you have to come out of the shell.

The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

May the joy of the season fill your heart.

Happy Easter!

Myrna wrote: Thank you. Happy Easter to you, as well.

Kyle's ordination

AnnMarie wrote: We are planning on Kyle being ordained on Sunday, May 1 after church -- we start at 11:00, so I assume it will be at 2:00ish.  Things aren't really clear since his interview with our bishop didn't occur when it was supposed to.  We would love to have any or all of you.  But we also know how hard it is to get away from your own church callings, particularly on a fast Sunday if you have young men who need to do fast offerings, etc.  Sorry about the late notice.  We will be having a lunch at our house afterward.  I have saved a big turkey for the occasion (not quite the same as a fatted pig, but it will do).

 

Thanks,

AnnMarie

Myrna wrote: Rats, I thought we were having a fatted lamb. Isn't that the tradition. Oh, wait, that was for Jewish boys. We will be there with bells on (quiet ones so as to not disturb the setting.)

AnnMarie wrote: I just can't do a fatted lamb.  Maybe it comes from singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" growing up.  I prefer fatted pigs.  Perhaps because there aren't any clever songs about them that make kids want to have one and take it to school.  The closest is "To market, to market to buy a fat pig."  But it is very clear that the pig is going to be eaten, as in "the pig was eat, and Tom was beat, and Tom went crying down the street."  Not very many happy thoughts with pigs.

I left the rest of you off of the original email invitation knowing that you would not be in the position to come this Sunday to Kyle's ordination.  But if you happen to blow this way, there is enough turkey for all.

 

AnnMarie

Melanie wrote: As you might remember, I don't like the taste of mutton...weird flavor...so I would prefer the fatted pig. A little roasting never hurts a pig, but brings out it's best: refiners fire and all that. 

Mel

Myrna wrote: I think that I haven't liked lamb since I helped take care of a bummer lamb. That is a lamb whose mother either dies or abandons it. My Grandpa Pitts let me help take care of a bummer lamb by feeding it bottles of milk. Poor little thing grew up to be hearty and was fixed for dinner. Grandpa said, "This delicious lamb was the lamb Myrna took care of." Nobody could understand what was the matter with me because I wouldn't and couldn't eat it. They always called me a "city" girl. I don't think it was meant kindly.

Todd wrote: The turkey is a noble bird. Remember, it ranks right there behind Eagle, Mr. Franklin even said so. Eating one of those birds brings fortune and blessings, unless it is undercooked, then the eater is misfortunate and begging for a blessing. 

Wish we could be there. 

Myrna wrote: I don't like fatted lamb and, living between two Greek families, I have had my fill of Easter lamb roasted on a spit in their backyards. Grandma Smith, however, annually thought she had received the gift of gifts. I do like turkey. I am neither Greek nor Jewish.

Pawaia

Pawaia is a Miskitu verb that means "to progress" or "to grow". Something that is really interesting about Miskitu is the varied meanings that the verbs have, because there are lots of verbs and each one has generally two meanings. However, this is not the main subject of this short but important email.

In this particular email I am going to break free from the pattern that I have set and just discuss something interesting that I learned last night while I was talking to some really cool members. Last night I was waiting in the Chapel for a missionary to arrive so that I could help him with his baptism. During that time some of the youth (the really hard working ones that always help the missionaries out) came to help us to translate and such and they randomly started asking me and a couple of other missionaries questions about being missionaries, serving missions, etc. Their main worry was that they might go on missions and not be "perfect", they might come home and not be "perfect". I giggled a little bit with them and then spoke some amazing truths. 

I told them that:

1. Missionaries are not perfect. We try to perfect ourselves but we tend to fail miserably.

2. You're not going to come home from your mission perfect. We want to all say that we'll get off our missions and be just the most amazing people ever. But that tends to not be true, as we still have our weaknesses and faults.

3. We are all, as Children of God, on the Earth to learn and progress. We should not compare ourselves with other people because we are all on our own track of progression.

I amazed myself when I said that because it reminded me of something that one of my religion professors said at BYU about giving advice. Generally when we give advice we say something that we need to hear for our own personal problems. That was definitely something that I needed to know. I needed to know that comparing myself to other people is NEVER something that I should do. I should compare myself to ME. I am the one on my own little train track of progression tyring to get to the train depot that is Exaltation. I cannot say, "Wow. That train is moving faster than I am." Rather, I should think, "I think I can, I think I can." We are all living examples of The Little Train That Could. I never thought of my eternal progression like that until last night. I think I was almost doing something God himself frowns down upon, that is, comparing eternal progression. We are rather busy thinking about our own learning and progression, so how can we be busy thinking about the eternal progression of others?

Now, don't get me wrong, trying to help others in their eternal progression is something that our Heavenly Father wants us to do. In fact He wants us to help others to get to where He is, and sometimes we need to help. Yet, He does not want us to think that we are father along, or that somebody else is farther along. We are all on the same playing field. A pitcher is not greater than a batter, nor an in-fielder better than an out-fielder. They each have their own specific roles and they each have their own duties; however, each is necessary in the game and you cannot compare one to another. Their statistics don't match up. Their roles are unique. Each one is a person with needs, wants, desires, problems, strengths and weaknesses.

Well, where are you on your eternal progression? Are we all where God wants us to be? If not, what are we willing to do to get in the game, to get on those train tracks? Are we playing the position that He would have us play? Are we going to the right train depot in the right destination?

I know that this Church is the true church of Jesus Christ on the Earth. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God and that it has amazing, life-changing stories. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, my best friend. I know that He can be yours too, if you let him in. I know that this work is truly the Lord's work, the errand of angles. I love you all and wish you luck, success and happiness in this next week of life. 

P.S. Tomorrow I hit 11 months. Wow.

P.P.S. Happy 18th Birthday BEN! You're officially a dude now.

Love,

Elder B

We are planning on Kyle being ordained on Sunday, May 1 after church -- we start at 11:00, so I assume it will be at 2:00ish.  Things aren't really clear since his interview with our bishop didn't occur when it was supposed to.  We would love to have any or all of you.  But we also know how hard it is to get away from your own church callings, particularly on a fast Sunday if you have young men who need to do fast offerings, etc.  Sorry about the late notice.  We will be having a lunch at our house afterward.  I have saved a big turkey for the occasion (not quite the same as a fatted pig, but it will do).

 

Thanks,

AnnMarie

[Rats, I thought we were having a fatted lamb. Isn't that the tradition. Oh, wait, that was for Jewish boys. We will be there with bells on (quiet ones so as to not disturb the setting.) Mom]

I just can't do a fatted lamb.  Maybe it comes from singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" growing up.  I prefer fatted pigs.  Perhaps because there aren't any clever songs about them that make kids want to have one and take it to school.  The closest is "To market, to market to buy a fat pig."  But it is very clear that the pig is going to be eaten, as in "the pig was eat, and Tom was beat, and Tom went crying down the street."  Not very many happy thoughts with pigs.

I left the rest of you off of the original email invitation knowing that you would not be in the position to come this Sunday to Kyle's ordination.  But if you happen to blow this way, there is enough turkey for all.

 

AnnMarie

Funny Joke for Easter

Gertrude Jensen wrote:

Hello.

Thanks for all your mails. Have sent this mail to alle myf riends (senor citizens).

With regards

Gertrud Jensen

Erin wrote: That is hilariouse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Myrna wrote: I love you!

Eva sent the following joke:

A man is driving along a highway and sees a rabbit jump out across the middle of the road.

He swerves to avoid hitting it, but unfortunately the rabbit jumps right in front of the car.

The driver,
a sensitive man as well as an animal lover, pulls over and gets out to see what has become of the rabbit. Much to his dismay, the rabbit is the Easter Bunny, and he is  DEAD .

The driver feels so awful   that he begins to cry. A beautiful blonde woman driving down the highway sees a man crying on the side of the road and pulls over.

She steps out of the car and asks the man what's wrong.

"I feel terrible," he explains, "I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny with my car and KILLED HIM."

The blonde says,"Don't worry."

She runs to her car and pulls out a spray can. She walks over to the limp, dead  Easter Bunny, bends down, and sprays the contents onto him.

The  Easter Bunny  jumps up, waves its paw at the two of them and hops off down the road.

Ten feet away he stops, turns around and waves again, he hops down the road another 10 feet, turns and waves, hops another ten feet, turns and waves, and repeats this again and again and again and again, until he hops out of sight.

The man is astonished. He runs over to the woman and demands,

"What is in that can? What did you spray on the Easter Bunny ?"

The woman turns the can around so that the man can read the label.

It says..

(Are you ready for this?)

(Are you sure?)
(You know you're gonna be sorry)

(Last chance)

(OK, here it is)

It says,

"Hair Spray
Restores life to dead hair, and adds permanent wave."

Happy Easter!!!

Kenneth Anderson wrote about Danish Missionary Addresses

This message has a dual purpose:

1. To identify valid addresses that are to be used for the invitation to the special missionary

     event on July 15th in the Provo area.

     You need only to click on the confirm receipt box to verify!

2. If you have or are aware of e-mail addresses or anyone who has a list of e-mail addresses for

    former missionaries, could you please send them so as many as possible can receive an invitation?

Tak skal I ha’!

Kenneth Anderson

Myrna wrote: It sounds exciting. Thanks! Tak skal I ha'!

We have the e-mail address for Russell and Beth Durfey. Russell served with Leonard and was his companion in Copenhagen from Dec. 1957 to May 1958.

Russell and Beth Durfey(redbot41@yahoo.com)  

How an Underactive Thyroid Can Affect Weight Loss

Losing Weight with Hypothyroidism
How an Underactive Thyroid Can Affect Weight Loss
By Mary Shomon, About.com Guide

Information adapted from the book The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss

Many hypothyroid patients struggle with an inability to lose weight. At first, if you'd gained weight before your thyroid problem is diagnosed, you were probably told you'd be able to lose it more easily -- or perhaps you were even told you'd lose all the extra weight -- once you started on your thyroid hormone replacement. 

So you take your thyroid hormone, and the weight doesn't come off.

Later, despite "normal" TSH levels, and lower-calorie, low-fat diets and exercise, you find yourself still gaining, or not losing weight. You may also have high cholesterol levels. The doctor then tells you that your weight problem doesn't have anything to do with your thyroid. 

Some of this site's visitors have reported to me that they were on a 900-calorie a day diet, walking 3 miles a day, and not losing weight, and the doctor says, "well, you just must be eating too much." 

What thyroid patients need to know more about are three factors that are likely at work for many of us with a difficulty losing weight -- a changed metabolic "set point," changes in brain chemistry due to illness and stress, and insulin resistance. 

Metabolic Set Point

According to Dr. Lou Aronne, author of the best-selling Weigh Less Live Longer, when you begin to take in too many calories, you have a small weight gain. Then, in order to maintain your set point weight, "your metabolism speeds up to process the excess calories, your appetite decreases, and some of the newly gained weight drops off." He calls this metabolic resistance.

Dr. Aronne believes that every person's body has what is called a weight "set point." Just like your body works to maintain a temperature "set point" of 98.6, it also appears to work toward maintaining a particular weight "set point." 

His theory is that in people with a chronic weight problem, the body puts up only modest metabolic resistance to weight gain. If you continue to take in more calories than you burn, the metabolic resistance loses strength, and your body then establishes a new, higher weight set point. 

What this means is, if several years ago, as a woman at 5'7" and 160 pounds you needed 2500 calories a day to maintain your weight, and now, after a diagnosis of hypothyroidism and a steady weight gain, at 210 pounds, you need 2800 calories to maintain your weight, if you dropped your calories back to 2500, would you lose the extra 50 pounds? No, as you reduce your calories and lose weight, your metabolic rate slows down, and according to Dr. Aronne, you'd probably only drop to around 197 pounds, although you'd be consuming the same number of calories as another woman of the same height who's stayed steady at 160 pounds. 

This is probably the mysterious factor at play when we see someone who apparently eats even more than we do, but maintains a lower weight level, or conversely, the person who swears they don't eat that much, but gains weight, or stays heavier. 

Dr. Aronne believes you can't completely eliminate the metabolic resistance, but a slow steady approach to dieting helps to minimize it. Also, a key way to increase metabolism is through exercise. 

Changes in Brain Chemistry

Hunger is intricately tied to your brain chemistry. According to Dr. Aronne, your hypothalamus senses you need energy, and issues the brain neurotransmitter neuropeptide Y (NPY) with the message "eat carbohydrates." The surge of NPY is what you experience as "hunger," Once the hypothalamus senses you've eaten enough carbohydrates, it releases serotonin to tell the body, "enough carbohydrates." 

But this system can be dramatically altered by several factors, all of which can be present in chronic thyroid disease:

Your metabolism is too slow for the appetite level set by your brain. Thyroid disease slows down the metabolism. What your brain perceives as appropriate food intake levels can then exceed your body's metabolism, creating weight gain.
Your body is under stress, which interferes with the neurotransmitter functions, and is known to reduce the release of serotonin. In fact, part of the success of the recently recalled diet drugs fen-phen was the fact that they increase serotonin and create a "feeling of fullness."
Dealing with brain chemistry, and helping to stimulate serotonin can be dealt with in several ways in addition to taking traditional anti-depressant drugs. Alternative medicine guru Andrew Weil, M.D., author of bestsellers Spontaneous Healing,, and Eight Weeks to Optimum Healthbelieves that the natural alternatives to boosting serotonin include aerobic exercise. Dr. Weil recommends at least 30 minutes of some vigorous aerobic activity at least five times a week. Dr. Weil also recommends the herbal treatment called St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum). More information on Dr. Weil's natural recommendations for dealing with serotonin are featured at his website. 

Insulin Resistance

Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas. When you eat foods that contain carbohydrates (which make up the majority of most of our diets), your body converts the carbohydrates into simple sugars. These sugars enter the blood, becoming "blood sugar." Your pancreas then releases insulin to stimulate the cells to take in the blood sugar and store it as an energy reserve, returning blood sugar levels to a normal level.

Carbohydrates can be"simple," high-glycemic carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, sugar, white flour and cakes, or"complex" lower-glycemic carbohydrates, like vegetables and whole grains.

Current theory claims that sugars and starches are far easily broken down than in our more prehistoric past, and today, many of us simply do not need and cannot process the amounts of carbohydrates that are considered "normal" by current dietary standards. For an estimated 25% of the population, eating what appears to be a "normal amount" of carbohydrates in fact raises blood sugar to excessive levels. The pancreas responds by increasing the secretion of insulin to the level where it will drive down blood sugar. For this group, consistently eating too many carbohydrates -- but remember, what is too many for this group is not necessarily too many for the average person -- creates a situation called "insulin resistance." 

Insulin resistance means that cells have become less responsive to the effects of insulin. So your body has to produce more and more insulin in order to maintain normal blood sugar levels. The insulin can also remain in your blood in higher concentrations. This is known as hyperinsulinemia. 

In addition to those who seem to have a lowered need for carbohydrates, some people simply eat too many carbohydrates. Today's low-fat diets emphasize more and more pasta, bagels, Snackwells, and sugary fat-free products, and most of these are high-glycemic carbohydrates. Basic over-consumption of high-glycemic foods carbohydrates can also trigger insulin resistance and overweight.

If you are insulin resistant, eating carbohydrates can make you crave more carbohydrates. You'll gain weight more easily, and have difficulty losing it. It is estimated that 25 percent of the general population -- and 75 percent of overweight people -- are insulin resistant.

High insulin levels can stimulate your appetite, making you feel even hungrier than normal for carbohydrate rich food, while lowering the amount of sugar your body burns as energy, and making your cells even better at storing fat, and even worse at removing fat.

When you're creating this excess insulin, it also prevents your body from using its stored fat for energy. Hence, your insulin response to excess carbos causes you to gain weight, or you cannot lose weight. 

The weight problems are not the worst aspect of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance may set up a whole syndrome of other serious health problems. For example, insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, which tend to go together, are often precursors of diabetes. And insulin resistance is also associated with a substantially increased risk of coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. 

Insulin Resistance and Thyroid Disease

It seems likely that hypothyroidism, with its penchant for slowing down everything else in our systems right down to our cells, slows down our body's ability to process carbohydrates and our cell's ability to absorb blood sugar. Hence, the carbohydrates we could eat pre-thyroid problems now are too much for our systems to handle. So excess carbohydrates equals excess insulin equals excess weight. Plus, the fun side effects of blood sugar swings (tiredness, dizziness, fatigue, exhaustion, hunger, etc.) that we may be mistaking as thyroid symptoms and our doctors say can't possibly be.

Any illness -- such as the chronic thyroid problems we all face -- also creates physical stress. And stress raises cortisol levels. And increased cortisol increases insulin levels. (I know my cortisol was through the roof last time the doctor checked. She had no idea why.) More insulin means increased chance of insulin resistance.

There's also a vicious circle aspect to this. The liver mediates between the activities of the insulin-releasing pancreas and the adrenal and thyroid glands, which are supposed to "tell" the liver to release glucose. If the adrenals and thyroid aren't working properly on the "telling" end, or if the liver is sluggish, stressed out, or toxic, and not working on the "receiving" end, the system goes out of balance. Either way, the result is elevated excess insulin.

And ultimately, if your adrenal glands are stronger than your pancreas, this can potentially lead to diabetes. If your pancreas is the stronger organ, which is more common, then you get fatigue, lowered body temperature, and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). 

All these factors mean that insulin resistance is probably even more of a factor for overweight people with hypothyroidism than for the general population. 

How to Lose Weight and Fight Insulin Resistance 

Weight loss is the most important method of eliminating insulin resistance. So it's one of those chicken and egg situations. The less you weigh, the less insulin resistant you will be. But insulin resistance makes it difficult to lose weight. 

So, for people who are insulin resistant, one of the only effective methods is by eating a low fat, low carbohydrate, protein sufficient diet. This means that in addition to the usual restrictions of a low-fat diet, you also need to seriously limit intake of sugar and starches, cutting back on pasta, rice, potatoes, white flour breads, cereal, corn, peas, sweet potatoes, desserts, dairy products, meats, and fruit with a high sugar content. 

You may feel frustrated that there's nothing left to eat. But you need to rethink your eating habits, shifting to a diet of chicken, turkey, fish, non-starchy vegetables, legumes, and certain grains. And for those who are insulin resistant, once you start eating this way, you'll find it easier, as your carbohydrate cravings will subside dramatically. 

Exercise

Finally, according to Jean-Pierre Despres, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Physical Education and Director of the Lipid Research Center at Laval University Hospital in Quebec, "Exercise is probably the best medication on the market to treat insulin resistance syndrome." "Our studies show that low intensity, prolonged exercise -- such as a daily brisk walk of 45 minutes to an hour -- will substantially reduce insulin levels," says Dr. Despres. 

This article was adapted from the book, The Thyroid Diet, by Mary Shomon

Mary Shomon, About.com's Thyroid Guide since 1997, is a nationally-known patient advocate and best-selling author of 10 books on health, including "The Thyroid Hormone Breakthrough: Overcoming Sexual and Hormonal Problems at Every Age," "The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss," "Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know," "Living Well With Graves' Disease and Hyperthyroidism," "Living Well With Autoimmune Disease," and "Living Well With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia."